Thursday, June 04, 2009

Once Earth Tone flutes had completed the line of the 2008 Scott August Signature Anasazi flutes the big question for me and Geoffrey was "What do we do next?"

The type of flute was the easiest part to answer. I had recently obtained a Mojave flute from Michael Graham Allen and was enthralled with it's exotic sound. It's limited range of notes, however, was some what frustrating. The Mojave replicas that Michael makes has only four holes and could not play any notes above the 5th in any given octave. This is not to say that Michael's flutes are lacking in sound or soul, I just wanted more notes.

So Geoffrey and I decided early on to extend the number of pitches by adding holes. I knew that the next note I heard in the scale was a minor 6th, a half step above the 5th. Above that, to match the top note of a Native American style flute, we picked the minor 7th. The flute is based on the note B.

Coincidentally Geoffrey had been exchanging emails with Frankie Sierra regarding a five hole version of a Mojave flute that he was working on, the fifth hole being a thumb hole. Personally I like to avoid thumb holes if possible so we decided to move the thumb hole to the front of the flute to get the min-6th along with another, higher, finger hole for the min-7th. A total of six holes. This led to the name Mojave-6, or M-6. The spacing of the six holes is in the same style as an Anasazi flute: two groups of three.

About Me

Recording artist and the owner of Cedar Mesa Music.
Recordings: Distant Spirits; Sacred Dreams (NAMMY Winner); New Fire; Lost Canyons (Echoes Radio CD of the Month); Radiant Sky, Hidden Journey. Books: The Complete Guide to the Native American Style Flute, The Complete Guide to Songwriting for the the Native American Style Flute, all which can be found at cedarmesa.com